Shoe support



Dec. 20, 1960 J. B. WELLS SHOE SUPPORT Filed Aug. 6, 1956 Fig. 1

Fig.2

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. JOEL B. WELLS GENT Dec. 20, 1960 Filed Aug-6, 1956 J. B. WELLS SHOE SUPPORT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 8

INVENTOR. JOEL B. WELLS ATTORNEY United States Patent-O ard Wells'Wilby, executor of said'Joel 1;. Wells, de- 1 i ceased Filed Aug. 6,1956, Ser. No. 602,266

Claims. (Cl. 21135) This invention relates to shoe supports, and moreparticularly to novel apparatus for supporting shoes in a fixedposition.

portant advantages with regard to the security of holding the shoes inplace andwith regard to ease of placing shoes in position in, andremoving shoesfrom, the support, these features being obtained togetherina superior manner in the apparatus according to the invention. 7

"Theinvention will be more fully described in con:

nection with the attached drawing, inwhich Figures 1' and 2 are side andfront views respectively of oneembodii ment of apparatus according tothe invention, Figures and 4 are sideand front, partial views of asecond embodiment; Figures 5 and 6 are side and front, partialviews of athird embodiment, Figure 7. is a'front' viewf offifourth embodiment,Figure 8 is a front view of a fifth embodiment, andFigure9isapartialfront view ofasixth v being nserted in the toes of the shoes.

embodiment. Referring to Figures 1 and 2, a metal plate 10' is se curedto a vertical wooden support 11 by means of screws 12. Coil springsections, 13 are'rigidly secured 'attheif outer ends 14 to the plate 10,as for example, by soldering or other suitable means. Metal rods 15 aresecured to the spring 13, and may be integral therewith. The rods 15 arerigidly secured also to plate or'shank 16. As shown, rods 15 areconnected with each other by means of a rod 17, integralwith the rods 15andrigidlysecured,

Patented Dec. 20, 1960 rather thanclosed, loops can be employed if, desired Plates rather than loops can be employed if desired.

When the shoes 22 are not in place, the spring means '13 hold the loops21flat against surface 11. In order to put the shoes in position, onegrasps the plate16, pulls the lower end thereof away from surface 11,places'the shoes in the positions indicated in Figure 1, and releasesthe plate 16, so that the spring means 13 press theloops 21 against thesoles of the shoes. v 5 Turning now to Figures 3 and 4, a ditferentconstruction is shown for that part only of the apparatus which isattachedto the lower end of shank 16. Metal-rod 30 has a c'entralportion 31 which is pivotally secured within a turned-under portion 20of shank 16' and has side 'por; tions f 32 which extend toward verticalsurface- 11 and also" laterally away from shank 16 as viewed .in Figureice , 4. The rod 30 also has portions 33 which extend-upf' The apparatusaccording to the invention provides iniwardly, in' a direction generallyparallel to'surface 11. Secured to the upper ends of portions 33- areshoe toe engaging heads 34, which are shaped in such manner as tostretch the toes of the's'hoes in which they are inserted. Any suitableknown construction for toe engaging heads can be employed.

As illustrated, when shoes are not'in place'in the apparatus, the heads34 are held flat against surface 11 by spring means 13.] To place shoesin position, the sh'a'nl; 16 is pulledaway from surface 11, and portion31 0!? rod 30 pivots" within portion 20 "of shank'16 unde'r'the intfluenceot gravity and/ or manual pressure, thus'pertnitting shoes tobeplaced in the desired position with their soles against surface 11.The spring 13 is then allowed to force shank: 16" toward surface 11, theheads. 34' meanwhile Instead of'the rod'portions 32 being integrally."nected to each other through portion 31,the portions 32 canbeindependently pivotally connected to shank 16,

I so that one of the portions 3-2 can be pivoted whilethe' other remainsstationary. However, highly satisfactory as by welding or other-suitablenieansf'within aturned-j struction is'n'otessential. The rods 15 and theplate 16 constitute together a shanksecured at one end to the face'll bythose spring means.

Rods 23 are secured to plate 16 by means of rod ,19, integral with rods23; rod 1 9 is rigidly secured within turned-under portion 20 of plate'16. Rods 23 extend laterally away from the longitudinal axis of plate16 and also extend toward surface 11. Rods 23 are rigidly se cured attheir lower ends to shoe engaging means provided by the wire loops 21.Rods 23,- rod 19, and loops 21 may if desired be constructed of a singlemetal wire, as shown;' however, this construction, is not essential.Loops 21, which are securedto the shank provided by plate 16 byvmeans ofrods 23 and 19,.'are adapted to hold, under the influence of springmeans 13, the shoes 22 in vertical position with their soles againstsurface 2-1. Suitable cloth or other pads not shown can be secured toloops 21 to protect the shoes if necessary.

The loops 21 constitute shoe engaging means adapted to engage the solesof shoes 22, and are secured to shank 16 by means of connecting rods 23,which are substantially normal to the plane of the loops 21 and to thesole of the shoes 22. The loops can if desired be curved to QQniQrm tothe shape of the sole of the shoe. Arcuate,

' is preferred because it provides operation can be obtained with thesimpler construction described above; In the apparatus shown in Figures3 and 4, each head 34'is' connected to shank 16 by means of'rod portion"33 which constitutes a rod extending-downwardly'from' head I34,1and.bymeans of rod po'rtion30 which constitutes asecondr'od secured to theshank and to the rodportion; 33t-at the latters lower end. I .-,.Toeengaging heads such as the heads 34 can be em-' ployedvwith either arigid connection to shank 161154115.

Figures 1 and 2 or. a pivoted connection to shank '16 as in Figures 3-and 4. Similarly, shoe engaging members such as the loops 21 can, beemployed with either "a rigid or pivotal connection toshank 16. Apivotal connection greater ease of manipu-i lation. 1

,Turning now to Figures 5 and 6, a variation of the apparatusshownFigures 1 and 2 is illustrated therein, the two shanks 50 replacing thesingle shank 16 ofFigures'l' and 2. Each shank 50 is rigidly secured toconnect-,

ingmember 51,.to which the rods 15 are also secured, The, rods 15 arealso secured, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, to the springmeans 13. Withthis construction;- the ..rods 5.0 can. be sufficiently flexible topermit some,

" fiexi'ng'of the rods'50 to facilitate placing the shoes therebeneath,but they are not so flexible as to be incapable of transferring theforce exerted by spring means 30 to shoe engaging members, throughconnecting rods 52, sufiiciently for that force to hold the shoesagainst surface 11. Substantially nonflexible shanks can, of course, beemployed if desired.

In Figure 7, spring 13 is rigidly secured to a plate 10 by means of ascrew 72 which bears upon looped section 71 of the spring, section 71being formed by curving the in that plane to form the loop. Integralshanks 70 extend downwardly from the outerends of the spring 13.Suitable shoe engaging members, notshown, are attached to the lower;ends of each shank" 70. The'shoe engaging members illustrated in otherfiguresare examples of suitablemembers that can be-used with theapparatus of Figure 7. p v

The various parts of the shoe, supports according to the invention canif desired be made integral with each other. Thus, referring to Figure 8the spring 13, the shank 16, and the shoe engaging member 21canbecoirstructed of a single wire-suitably sha'pedto provide thedesired construction and relationship, of the parts to each other. Also,the, outer ends of the spring can be shaped into a loop 41 in a plane.parallel to the plane of surface 11, so that the spring can be directlyattached to the surface 11 by'screws 12 inserted through the loops ateither end.

If desired, a plurality of the shoe supports according to the inventioncan be secured to a flat surface, e.g., a metallic or wooden surface, toprovide a shoe rack adapted to hold a plurality of shoes and to beplaced in any suitable location, e.g., against a wall or door, etc.

It is not essential, according to the invention, that the surface 11 bea vertical surface, since the invention is applicable to horizontal or.inclined surfaces also. However, the maximum utility and convenience ofthe in vention, is obtained where the surface is substantially vertical,or at least inclined more to the, vertical than to the horizontal. I

his not essential that the shoe be held by the apparatus according tothe invention with its" toe toward;. thc spring 13 since the. inventionisapplicable rearrange meats where the heel or other portion of the shoeis closest to the spring. However, superior, results are-ob- If desired,the apparatus shown in Figures 1 and 2v can be modified by providing, asshown in Figure 9, in each of the members 23 a coiled, spring sectionadjacent theconnecting member 19 which is rigidly secured to shank 16Such springsections and the members 19 and 23 be constructed, forexample, from a single wire 42 by tightly coiling the wire in twoportions 43 thereof separated by the central portion 19, the outeruncoiled portions of the wire constituting the members 23. In operation,the member 23 and shank 16 can be moved in relation to each other byexerting manual pressure, thus facilitating insertion and removal ofshoes. In the abscnceof such pressure, the spring sections hold themembersin the desired relationship to each other.

The invention claimed is:

1. A shoe holder which comprises: spring means secured to a support;connectingmeans comprising shank means secured at one end to said springmeans and extending therefrom, and two portions mounted on said shankmeans and extending laterally toward said support; two shoeengagingmembers connected to the ends of said portions and urged toward saidsupport by said spring means to hold, solely by the lateral force ofsaid assess-r 4 spring means exertedthrough saidmembers, two shoes infixed positions with their :soles against said support.

2. Shoe holder according to claim 1 wherein said shank means consist ofa single shank.

3. Shoe holder according to claim 1 wherein said shank means consist oftwo shanks, to each of which shanks :one of said shoe-engaging membersis connected.

4. Shoe holder according to claim 3 wherein a portion of said springmeanson eof said shanks, a'connecting rod and one ofjsaid shoerengagingmembers are constructed of a single wire, and wherein the remainingportion of said spring means, the other of said shanks, a secondconnecting rod and the other of said shoe-engaging members areconstructed of another single wire.

5. Shoe holder according to claim 1 wherein said shank means and saidshoe'engaging members are rigidly connected to each other by means ofconnecting rods.

6. Shoe holder according to claim 1 wherein a connecting rod is rigidlysecured to each of said shoe-engaging members and pivotally connected tosuch shank means, and wherein each of the two connecting rods extendsoutwardly from the shoe-engaging member to which it is attached, wherebythe pivotal connection of the connecting rodto the shank meansfacilitates introduction of and removal of the shoe-engaging member froma shoe.

7. Shoe holder according to claim 1 wherein each of said shoe-engagingmembers comprises a member adapted to engage the sole of said shoe overan extended area, said area being the only area of contact of saidmember with the shoe.

8. Shoe holder according to claim '1 wherein each of said shoe-engagingmembers, comprises a toe-engaging headconnec'tedtd said shank meansby aconnectingrod having a, portion secured at one end to the rear of saidhead and extending toward the heel of the shoe and a second portionsubstantially. perpendicular to the first portion and secured to saidshank means and to the other end of. said first .portion.

'9. Shoe holder according to claim 1 wherein the shank means extendstraight from their junction with the spring means to their junctionwith the connecting rods attached to saidv shoe-engaging members.

10. Shoe holder according to claim 1 wherein a coil is provided in eachof two connecting rods secured to said shank means, the coils beingdisposed on either side of and adjacentto said shank means and wherein ashoeengaging member is secured to each of said rods.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

